2 days ago
State quashes PMC's resolution to widen 323 6m roads to 9m across Pune areas
Pune: The state urban development department (UDD) on Thursday quashed a resolution approved by the standing committee of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to widen 323 six-metre roads in Pune city to nine metres.
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The quashing of the resolution, which met with a backlash, is expected to give relief to many bungalow and housing society owners from across several city areas, including Sahakarnagar, Kothrud, Prabhat Road, Deccan Gymkhana, and Aundh.
These residents had raised concerns over the possible increase in high-rises in narrow lanes fronting their properties, and the resulting pressure on service lines and potential traffic congestion.
TOI had highlighted these concerns in a 20-part series of news reports under its 'Planning Controversy' campaign, following the standing committee's road-widening resolution dated June 9, 2020.
The conversion would have impacted roads measuring around 103km in total.
After the latest development, Rajesh Bankar, a senior official of PMC's building permission department, said, "We have got directives from state govt.
They will be implemented, and blanket widening of roads as approved in the resolution will not be done."
The state's latest directive says that the PMC's "resolution was not passed with due process. So, it is being scrapped as per provisions of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act of 1949".
Former BJP standing committee chairman and corporator Ujjwal Keskar, former BJP corporator Suhas Kulkarni, and Shiv Sena's former corporator Prashant Badhe had moved Bombay High Court in 2021, accusing PMC's standing committee of not following the due legal process as stipulated under section 210 (1) (B) of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act while approving this resolution.
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HC subsequently asked the state UDD to give a hearing to both parties and work out a solution. Accordingly, the state UDD principal secretary KH Govindraj held a joint meeting on April 11 this year with Keskar, Kulkarni, Badhe, then-PMC commissioner Rajendra Bhosale, and city engineer Prashant Waghmare.
On April 28, 2025, the UDD published the minutes of the meeting in which it has asked the PMC to resubmit a proposal recommending the quashing of its earlier standing committee resolution.
Keskar told TOI, "These roads were mainly in the town planning schemes in the suburbs, and their widening would have caused significant harm to middle-class residents."
Kulkarni said, "We want to convey the message that ordinary Pune residents will not tolerate actions taken for the benefit of the wealthy. In the next phase, govt has requested a report from the municipal administration on those who have constructed buildings assuming the roads would be widened to nine metres."
Pune: The state urban development department (UDD) on Thursday quashed a resolution approved by the standing committee of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to widen 323 six-metre roads in Pune city to nine metres.
The quashing of the resolution, which met with a backlash, is expected to give relief to many bungalow and housing society owners from across several city areas, including Sahakarnagar, Kothrud, Prabhat Road, Deccan Gymkhana, and Aundh.
These residents had raised concerns over the possible increase in high-rises in narrow lanes fronting their properties, and the resulting pressure on service lines and potential traffic congestion.
TOI had highlighted these concerns in a 20-part series of news reports under its 'Planning Controversy' campaign, following the standing committee's road-widening resolution dated June 9, 2020.
The conversion would have impacted roads measuring around 103km in total.
After the latest development, Rajesh Bankar, a senior official of PMC's building permission department, said, "We have got directives from state govt. They will be implemented, and blanket widening of roads as approved in the resolution will not be done."
The state's latest directive says that the PMC's "resolution was not passed with due process. So, it is being scrapped as per provisions of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act of 1949".
Former BJP standing committee chairman and corporator Ujjwal Keskar, former BJP corporator Suhas Kulkarni, and Shiv Sena's former corporator Prashant Badhe had moved Bombay High Court in 2021, accusing PMC's standing committee of not following the due legal process as stipulated under section 210 (1) (B) of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act while approving this resolution.
HC subsequently asked the state UDD to give a hearing to both parties and work out a solution.
Accordingly, the state UDD principal secretary KH Govindraj held a joint meeting on April 11 this year with Keskar, Kulkarni, Badhe, then-PMC commissioner Rajendra Bhosale, and city engineer Prashant Waghmare.
On April 28, 2025, the UDD published the minutes of the meeting in which it has asked the PMC to resubmit a proposal recommending the quashing of its earlier standing committee resolution.
Keskar told TOI, "These roads were mainly in the town planning schemes in the suburbs, and their widening would have caused significant harm to middle-class residents."
Kulkarni said, "We want to convey the message that ordinary Pune residents will not tolerate actions taken for the benefit of the wealthy. In the next phase, govt has requested a report from the municipal administration on those who have constructed buildings assuming the roads would be widened to nine metres."
